As blockchain technology continues to revolutionize industries, video games are no exception!
Web3 gaming is one of the most exciting areas of development right now, and one of the leading blockchains is Ronin Networkbuilt from the ground up to power top blockchain games.
With a focus on optimizing transaction speeds and reducing costs, Ronin has become the go-to choice for game developers looking to get the most out of blockchain.
Source: Sky MavisWhat is Ronin?
At its core, Ronin is a blockchain specifically designed to support the gaming ecosystem. It was created as an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible layer 1 blockchain specifically tailored to meet the needs of gaming, providing the efficient scalability needed to manage millions of players every day.
Launched in 2021, Ronin’s main advantage is its ability to process large volumes of transactions quickly and cost-effectively. This makes it an ideal platform for Web3 games, flawlessly handling millions of item transactions, game mechanics, and player interactions without slowing down.
sky mavisThe creators of the popular web3 game Axie Infinity developed Ronin specifically to meet the needs of Axie, and at the time no other blockchain could do this. Over time, Ronin gained significant attention, investment, and top-tier play from notable investors such as Animoka brand, Andreessen Horowitz and more.
How Ronin works
Because its architecture is designed specifically for games, Ronin offers players crucial advantages, including lower fees when buying and selling in-game items, faster transactions, and more direct interaction between games and NFTs.
The main token of the Ronin ecosystem is $RON, used for trading, staking, and governance. Games and applications can also create their own tokens on the network, such as $AXS and $SLP used in the Axie Infinity ecosystem. These can be saved in the Ronin Wallet and accessed via a browser extension or mobile app.
Today, the Mavis Market is the main NFT trading center for Ronin assets, with daily trading volume currently reaching around $100,000.
Ronin’s security is backed by a variety of high-quality validators, including major institutions like Google and Animoca Brands. The network holds more than 170 million RON tokens, accounting for 60% of the circulating supply, and is secured by 22 validators and approximately 20,000 delegators.
Decentralization is a major goal of the Ronin development team, and there are plans to increase the number of validators over time to help achieve this goal.
Source: Sky MavisThe history of ronin
The story of Ronin can be told through two of the most popular games – axis infinitetriggering the first wave of making money while playing in 2021, and Pixelwhich led the second wave of earning while playing after migrating from Polygon to Ronin in 2023.
In Axie Infinity, players can own, trade, and raise digital pets called Axie’s to complete tasks in PVP battles. The game peaked in late 2021 and early 2022 as the number one blockchain game with 2.8 million daily players and a peak daily transaction volume of $42 million. The fast, low-cost transactions enabled by Ronin elevate this game to levels never seen in web3 games before.
Pixels is an open-world farming MMO that rose rapidly in late 2023 and early 2024, becoming the blockchain game with the largest number of players. The success of Pixels has seen Ronin see an influx of users, with the number of daily active addresses jumping from about 12,000 to more than 200,000.
Since its debut in 2022, the market capitalization of the $RON token has also increased significantly, soaring from $40 million to an impressive $500 million. The total value locked (TVL) of the Ronin network has also increased significantly, from US$48 million to US$166 million during the same period.
Ronin plans to further expand and enhance its capabilities and attract a new generation of leading blockchain games, which is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. Known for its rock-solid reliability and hugely successful games, Ronin is a giant in the web3 gaming industry and will remain a major player for a long time to come.
